Hello friends and welcome back to Week in review!
I’ve taken the last few weeks to switch off and make sure my 2022 hot takes are as burning as possible, or at least as forward-looking as possible. This week we’re talking about what could easily be one of the biggest Apple scandals of the decade to date: the teeny little AirTag.
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(Photo by James D. Morgan / Getty Images)
the big thing
AirTags are a very useful product from Apple that works pretty much as advertised.
Unfortunately, that’s the problem.
There has been some controversy lately about how Apple introduced these and how these are great devices for keeping track of your keys but can also be easily misused to track someone. This is not a purely theoretical problem either, it is already happening.
It’s not a particularly unique scenario where technology can be used for good and bad – just think of the decades-long discussion about encryption – that says that I feel like this is a scenario where Apple is going to lose and it will be more embarrassing than any misstep in recent memory.
Apple has focused much of its wearable product marketing on how its devices work in edge use cases in recent years. The last generations of the Apple Watch have focused on health monitoring features that could help identify rare diseases or help users in a life-threatening situation. TV spots have documented the individual stories of users who have found the Apple Watch to be a life-saving tool. There is potential for some of this with AirTags, but there are a lot more downsides too. Over the next year, we’ll no doubt see examples of nefarious uses of AirTags bundled up as the antithesis of one of those Apple Watch commercials. It can end up being a product that is defined by its gross flaws.
Image credit: Screengrab for Mars
Apple has made its own post-launch efforts to tighten the detection of AirTags that do not belong to a specific user, but these notifications have proven to be flawed and have often waited far too long to warn users. Add the fact that Apple apparently viewed Android integration as an afterthought rather than a necessary partnership to deliver a device like this, and Apple’s incompetence looks a little more serious.
I very much doubt Apple will be able to solve this problem. Regardless of what they ship out on iOS to track issues, Android’s broken ecosystem means that the safeguards aren’t reaching very many people who could be attacked.
For an emerging product category with such PR liability potential, it is difficult to see how Apple will justify the continued sale of AirTags. It is a unique mistake by Apple that the company delivered exactly what it originally promised but did not consider the full scope of the direct consequences of that initial promise.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
other things
Here are a few stories this week that I think you should check out:
Elizabeth Holmes convicted in 4 of 11 cases
The trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has finally found a solution. We are now waiting for the conviction and for further indications as to whether Holmes will be tried again on several of the counts on which the jury was unable to pass judgment. “Holmes has been found guilty of investor fraud conspiracy, as well as investor fraud from the DeVos family, hedge fund manager Brian Grossman and former real estate and trust attorney Dan Mosely. She has not been found guilty of patient fraud charges, ”said my colleague Amanda.
Google violated Sonos technology, rules of the commercial court
Google’s smart speakers infringe key patents owned by Sonos, a US regulator that ruled this week, and the company is no longer allowed to import the infringing products that are made in China. Google has already started rolling out design changes that it hopes will disrupt sales of its smart speakerphone devices. Sonos has seen its early leadership in the war of smart speakers dissipate as tech giants put their weight on them, but the smaller hardware company isn’t shrinking.
A smaller, quieter CES
The Omicron wave stopped the TechCrunch team from making their way to Las Vegas to check out the latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show, but we were spiritually on the show and watched each other along with tons of livestreams . While it was certainly a more cautious year, there was still a lot of wild gimmick this year. Here are some of the best we’ve seen.
Credit: Jasmine Merdan (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Things added
Some of my favorite reads from ours TechCrunch + Subscription service this week:
How Startups Can Prevent Tech Debt From Piling Up
“… It’s not always bad to prefer a short-term plan to get a faster option to go to market, provided the company has a backup plan in place to provide well-designed code that would facilitate future iterations and innovations. However, reworking is difficult for startups because deadlines and scarcity of resources prevent developers from creating clean and perfect code. Startups prioritize short-term plans and focus more on adding features to hit milestones, attract customers, or raise funding. This shift in the roadmap and the disregard for the long-term perspective trigger tech debts … “
5 Marketing Growth Forecasts for 2022
“… It’s been a crazy year in growth marketing, what with the meteoric rise of TikTok, radical changes in iOS privacy, and an unbelievable $ 240 billion flowed into US startups As of September 30th. All of that new money has resulted in increased investments in growth marketing in 2021. The higher investments came in uncertain times as startups struggled to find ways to measure iOS conversions and unlock TikTok as a new channel …“
3 things founders need to know about M&A
“… M&A is particularly beneficial for startups that are struggling to scale operationally because they are essentially buying cash flow, revenue and traffic from other companies, which means startups are gaining a larger share of their markets. They’re also a great way for startups to find, consolidate, and experiment with their value propositions. The problem, however, is that most founders don’t know how to start with M&A and put themselves in the shadow of the bigger players. But mergers are accessible and beneficial for companies of all sizes … “
Thank you for reading and you can have this in your inbox every Saturday morning from after Newsletter page, and follow my tweets @lucasmtny.
Have a great week!
